The Island School — page 179: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ie “may be made upon us.’ RY ie vineyard, how does that fit in with your ideas > La na itt 4 3 eae Cant * BA | a from the direction of the vineyard. The fellow may __have found the temptation to murder a woman, one of i i, “the hated usurpers, irresistible. : * on the alert.” ae cn Jim said he would run up to the castle and have a oe ata - Jook round. He would be back by tea-time. Before i _ anyone could remonstrabe with him, or offer to accom- — _ pany him, he was off at a rattling pace, and speedily iY _ was out of sight. et CHAPTER LXXX. _ | | __—A-TIME OF SUSPENS.—NEWLY-MADE GRAVES. a O concealment of the “ag attempted assassina- nn tion was possible: oa: « Too many had shared He aS i in the adventure for a. " it to be hidden from | ae , Z the other occupants SpA Co, nel of the school. Before A Woy tea-time it was all over ik ae fi"! the place. Furthermore, he | { A> ns there was a considerable | Ee aes amount of exaggeration _ afloat, and fear was in the heart of many of the _ younger boys. ‘Nor were the men without some sense ofa tremor, for they were not all, like Martin, of the sturdy build that thinks nothing of a fight, and accepts hard knocks as one of the boons of existence. The two undermasters received the news with out- ‘ward calmness, but the effect on the trio of niggers was to make them wild with excitement, and in the case of the two elders with additional emotion, not ‘aaallied with alarm. | 6 Romeo, having tasted the delights of exciting ad- _venture, rose to the occasion, and commenced laying the table by shooting a column of plates along the floor, thereby cracking many and severing others : asunder. Then he spilt a huge pile of bread-and- - butter, and upset a tea-urn, insomuch that his grand- father reproved him in a choice collection of epithets. _ “Tt’s no use a-talkin’ to me,” replied Romeo, “ dis chile got him blood up, and am on de war-trail. Ware - ob dat, ole man. Don’t you screw me up to make _——-you de fust victim. Clar out dere. Whoop!” ae He bounded out of the dining-room, leaving his aged grandfather petrified with astonishment. In _ this state he remained until Hamlet appeared, bur- dened eh ay es so Be table. onl very yell have Boden fifty or even more—they are standing off, en pote the Peps of the attack that | Oe * hi : ac -- ne he ~~ But this attempt at salliaeaes assassination in a the “ Possibly the attack on the school will be made Anyway, we must be . a f a ory % Fig’)! ; i AY My ti shi , r 3 ay: of ; ue “Spec yo've Hone. ee 2 Mal a beth, re- covering his speech. Fh byl! 4 ate “What de marrer ! ” demarided ] amlat. se “Yo’ brought a lunatic inter de worle in de shape i ob dat boy Romeo,” said Macbeth. rk “S’pose me hab den,” cried nto angrily, a wie 3 de fust offender? Who brought me inter ‘de worle? — ae -Garn along and make youself useful by bringing ony 2) sumfin. Don’t take defuge in sham ole age.” 5 Macbeth was not proof against this, style of argu ment, he feeling in his conscience that he was the ai ( really original culprit. Of course, if he had never had a son, that son could not have had another son, and i so—he got so far in his line 6f thought, and then gave ha it up. It was no use his trying, in his then state of a mind, to work out deep social antl family problems. — gan ‘Mr. Farrell sent word down that he was not coming va in to tea, and the intelligence was borne with | com-— Ni mendable fortitude. The room soon filled with an BS _excited throng of boys and men. In the absence of Jim Gordon it really seemed as if there was nobody | ‘ to act as a sedative to the excitement. Morse was busy with his thoughts, and mechani- 5 cally took his seat at the table without showing signs ‘ that he heard the babel of voices. The undermasters — were powérless to obtain quietude, until Mr. Ser rose up with his face blazing with wrath. — “Silence!” he cried. “What do you mean be oe making this uproar? Is it because you have not the — master hand of Mr. Farrell to restrain you ?”. “A There was no mistaking the sneer expressed 1 in the nt a words “master hand,” and there were derisive cries of . “ He isn’t our master!” and, ‘He is a coward! AY and, oa ¢ Who hid in the rabbit-hole ?” * | ate 4 Morse sprang to ue feet. said. worth vt 2” ee There was es and ‘Hens a stillness lone: the he boys. The men at their table shuffled about. uneasily, “ig in their seats, and whispered among themselves. — Changeling was the calmest of them all, but Chorker — was pene with fear. Martin — up and faced t Mr. Storeby. a at “Tt is no use blinking facts, sir,” he said. | “ There f. is something going to happen here, unless we act in a be way to stop it. Mr. Groby is gone—goodness knows. a where—and Mr. Farrell might be anywhere for all the | good he is. You stan_ next on the list. Won't you . take the job of making defensive me of hy the school in hand ?” | : “Tam not competent,” was the reply. “OL nga | nothing about fighting matters, especially against. a : foe who at present does not seem to me to have | She a definite form. By nature Tama man oly sk 7) a f Ps eh aay W i . AY 5 - ‘ * , % Soe a ie peace.” < | can : i whe . ‘x “Well, ae ge then,” said id Martin Ga, ; By fe or RGA Pee if ce i AA PRR at ah 7 ah Rie r Y ay n~mer “ I